SUNY Oneonta students are gaining firsthand experience in their fields of study this summer through research and creative projects on topics ranging from local lake water quality to a paleoanthropology field school abroad.
With guidance and support from faculty members, 29 SUNY Oneonta students are participating in a variety of new and continuing research and creative projects on and off campus through the university’s Summer Research Fellowship Program.
The 2026 Summer Research Fellowship recipients receive financial support from University Advancement’s Student Research and Creative Activity Grant Fund, with additional funding from the Office of Alumni Engagement. Students receive grants of up to $3,000, with a maximum of $6,000 available for two or more students working together on a single project. Students who must remain on campus for their research also receive free housing at SUNY Oneonta this summer.
“The summer fellowships provide students with a great opportunity to do concentrated, in-depth, faculty-led research and creative projects without sacrificing their ability to earn money at a time when so many students are home working summer jobs,” said Audrey Porsche, Associate Director of Scholarly Activities.
The students will share their projects with the campus community during the Summer Research Fellowship Showcase on Tuesday, Sept. 22, from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. This year’s showcase will also include student research fellows who received grants from the Tyler Center for Global Studies, SUNY Oneonta students who participated in overseas internships through Sodexo, and students who participated in SUNY Binghamton’s summer research fellowship program.
“Changes in Movement of Adult Female Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta) Due to Nesting Behavior”
In the greater Oneonta area, Biology senior Alexa Nanes is conducting research on the movement of nesting wood turtles. Nanes is working alongside M.S. Biology graduate student Alexia Leone, whose thesis focuses on the restoration and protection of wood turtle nesting habitat. Together, the two are continuing the extensive research on the local wood turtle population conducted by previous SUNY Oneonta researchers.
“Alexa's roles and responsibilities are to help Alexia with data collection for her project on factors affecting wood turtle nesting success, collect data for her own project on female turtles' movement behavior before vs. after nesting, and improve her proficiency with radiotelemetry and data collection from the field,” said Elizabeth Bastiaans, Associate Professor of Biology and the faculty mentor on the project. “Females' movement after nesting is not well studied in literature, so we would like to learn more about this behavior.”
Nanes’s research focuses on differences in the movement of female wood turtles before and after nesting. This includes observing which restored nesting habitats they select, how they make those selections, and which natural habitats they use before and after nesting. From June through August, she is tracking adult female turtles surveyed by Leone, who installed a radio transmitter on each turtle.
Nanes and Leone have also worked to protect the wood turtles’ nests throughout June and July, with the eggs expected to hatch in August. Upon hatching, they will count the hatchlings and calculate nest success. Nanes will then compare nest success with habitat use and movement patterns to determine how these factors affect the success of individual nests.
“My responsibilities for this project are supervising all data collection for both Alexa’s summer fellowship project and my master’s thesis research,” said Leone. “After graduation, I plan to start a career in conservation biology, and I hope to continue to work with turtles for that.”
SUNY Oneonta graduate student Alexia Leone and senior Alexa Nanes speak on their summer research project tracking the movements of wood turtles.
“Implementing Sustainable Activities to Increase Health, Physical Activity and Socialization for Older Adults in Rural Areas”
Just a short drive from campus, students Jaiden Schrag (’28), Wyatt Martin (’27) and Emily McDougall (’27) have spent their summer at The Gathering Place in east Oneonta, working with older adults through an exercise science research project that began two years ago. Their faculty mentors for this project have been Assistant Professor of Sport and Exercise Science Katherine Griffes and Men’s Soccer and Men’s and Women’s Tennis Assistant Coach Timothy Sagasti.
During the first year of the project, the students conducted surveys in the Oneonta area to learn about the motivators, benefits and barriers associated with physical activity among older adults. By the second year, their findings helped them develop guidelines and recommendations for facilities that serve older adults. Both parts of the project were presented at the Cuba TIES (Strategic Alliances for the Internationalization of Higher Education) conference in fall 2025.
This summer, Schrag, Martin and McDougall have been able to put their recommendations into practice, addressing not only physical activity but also the overall wellness and health education needs of older adults identified through their previous research. Together, the students developed educational resources for members of The Gathering Place, a community partner for the project. These materials include information on important physical activities for older adults, such as balance, flexibility and fine motor skills, as well as sample exercises and adaptations for individuals with physical limitations.
“My favorite part about working with the Gathering Place has been talking with the members there,” said Martin, a Biology major. “They are all very nice and interested in what we are doing. They offer very beneficial insight into our research and have offered ideas for methods previously overlooked.”
The group also purchased heart rate monitors through their SRCA grant and spent time at The Gathering Place working with members to track their data while participating in exercise programs. They also established a community garden with plants donated by Mount Vision Garden Center to promote outdoor activity, socialization and healthy nutrition among members.
Each of the three students has also led exercise and fitness classes for members this summer while continuing to provide educational resources related to nutrition, heart rate monitoring and blood pressure.
“I believe this summer research project will help me achieve my career goals by giving me hands-on experience working with older adults and promoting healthy, active lifestyles,” said Schrag, an Exercise Science major. “Through this project, I have been able to strengthen my communication, teamwork and problem-solving skills, which are all skills that will be essential as I work toward becoming a physical therapist.”
Students Wyatt Martin, Jaiden Schrag, and Emily McDougall put their research into practice in the community, helping older adults stay active at The Gathering Place in Oneonta.
“Leveraging SUNY Oneonta as a Living Laboratory to Better Understand Local and Regional Climate Change and Variability”
Back on campus, Meteorology major Emma Panzarella has been gaining hands-on experience by installing a network of temperature and relative humidity sensors around SUNY Oneonta. Once completed, the network will complement weather data collected at the rooftop weather station on the Perna Science Building, providing a more detailed picture of local conditions across different elevations. Under the faculty mentorship of Meteorology Lecturer Allison Hannigan, Panzarella’s project aims to improve understanding of how temperature varies with elevation in the Oneonta region and how those variations influence local weather hazards, particularly winter weather and valley fog.
“In collaboration with SUNY Oneonta Athletics, several sensors are being installed near high-priority athletic fields to better characterize near-field conditions,” said Hannigan. “A publicly accessible online dashboard will be developed to display real-time observations from the sensor network and improve access to weather data for faculty, students and the broader community.”
Panzarella’s primary role this summer has been designing and managing the network of temperature and relative humidity sensors on campus. Her work has included identifying suitable locations, testing the equipment and integrating the new sensors with the existing automated weather station. She is also developing an online dashboard that will display sensor data in real time, making these observations publicly accessible.
While one of the relay sensors has been set up at the Red Dragon field, another will be place at the baseball field once backordered parts arrive. Another important component of her work is improving the accessibility and usability of SUNY Oneonta’s long-term weather observations, which date back to 1981.
“We also have an online dashboard where we can see all of the data that we're collecting,” said Panzarella. “I’m curating the dashboard so it will be of interest to athletes and be easy to read and access by having all the information we collect displayed succinctly. That's been very, very gratifying.”
Student Emma Panzarella records data from weather sensors across campus to conduct atmospheric research on temperature and humidity change.